Of Angels and Demons
by mystique772
Summary: Entry for "The Indies First Time Writer Challenge” One-Shot Contest. Edward Cullen is alone in a family of mated vampires and all he wants is to experience that connection for himself. AU/OOC


**"The Indies First Time Writer Challenge" One-Shot Contest**

**Title:** Of Angels and Demons

**Pen name:** Mystique772

**Primary Players: **Edward and Bella

**Rating:** T

**Word Count:** 5,373

**Disclaimer:** Stephenie Meyer owns all things Twilight. I make no profit from my literary experiment.

* * *

Rain. This is one aspect of nature that has always held contrasting associations. For some it brought feelings and thoughts of renewal and cleansing. For Edward Cullen the rain meant isolation, desolation and melancholy. For him it was ironic how rain and gloom and dark provided his cover. Allowing him a way to walk and exist among the unsuspecting. Clouds and grey allowed him to be close to his natural prey. Close to their scents, their softness, their weakness. He existed among them but he was not one of them. To him, he was a monster. Some called his kind vampires. Some called them leeches and others, bloodsuckers. Edward considered what he was to be unnatural. Like all others of his kind his natural craving was for the blood of humans. However, he and his family lived differently from others of their kind. They had control. Following the guidelines of their leader and father figure Carlisle Cullen, they fed only on the blood of animals. This helped them to keep the monster at bay and let them form bonds of love, becoming a family. Edward wondered if this one act somehow made him less the monster that he was, maybe made him redeemable in some way. He decided that it did not. He had no soul. Carlisle would beg to differ but Edward could not see how the undead could be blessed with souls.

Edward pondered these things as he sat in his room on the second floor of the charming property that his family owned on the outskirts of the small Netherlands village Lage Vuursche. They were vacationing for the summer away from the ever rainy town of Forks, Washington in the quaint village. The trip had been his sister Alice's idea though Edward did not see the point of moving from one rainy place to another. However, Alice had determined that they needed a change of scenery. She was currently taking a week long trip with her husband and Edward's brother Jasper to Paris to revel in the epitome of fashion as she deemed it.

Sitting alone staring out the window at the rain and mist that coated the atmosphere, Edward was an unwilling audience to the thoughts of his other family members as they lost themselves in each other. Edward was a mind reader. He heard the inner most thoughts of anyone who were within close enough range. It was maddening at times and his only escape was running away from people, away from the thoughts. For now he just sat and stared doing his best to ignore the thoughts he could hear roaming freely throughout the house. Eventually he began to think of the past and how his family as he knew it came to be.

Born in 1901 Edward Anthony Masen was perfectly human, perfectly natural. He had a mother and father and dreams of being a hero for his country. His life was interrupted in 1918 when the Spanish Influenza claimed the life of his mother and father. However, before she succumbed, Elizabeth Masen made her doctor, Carlisle Cullen promise that he would save her son. Somehow she knew that there was something different about this man, something otherworldly. Carlisle kept that promise and after that transformation, Edward woke up to a world filled with images and sounds that he had never before experienced, frozen in time forever at the age of seventeen. He also awoke to voices, vast amounts of voices. He was traumatized to say the least but over time and under the guidance of Carlisle he was able to stabilize.

The immense pain of transformation was something that Edward would never forget. It was the most difficult and most painful experience he had ever suffered through. For three long days Carlisle's venom coursed through his body burning, replacing all bodily fluids. It did not stop its path of destruction until it had stopped his heart making him what he now was.

Their family of two was increased shortly after when Carlisle bonded with and changed a dying Esme. Carlisle's other half become his mother for all practical purposes and he loved her dearly. Esme was so pure of heart and eager to mother him that he could never deny her.

In 1933 Carlisle changed a battered, raped and dying Rosalie Hale partially in hope that she would become Edward's mate. Edward inwardly scoffed as he thought of the absurdity of that hope. Though he loved and accepted Rosalie as a sister there was nothing even close to a connection between the two. If he was being honest with himself Rosalie was selfish and vain. However, that did not stop her from finding her mate in Emmett who had landed on the very wrong end of a bear's aggression in 1935. She resisted the natural call of his blood and brought him to Carlisle not trusting herself to perform the change herself. Edward chuckled as he thought of his burly brother. Emmett was boisterous. He always finding the humor in situations and was accepting of any challenge. Sometimes Edward tried to take a page from his brother's temperament but he just could not muster that kind of enthusiasm for his existence.

Making up the final two members of their family was little Alice and her mate Jasper who came to the family on their own. Jasper was an empath who absorbed and had the ability to influence the emotions of others. Edward had always felt more of a connection with Alice due in the part of her gift. Alice could see the future in bursts and visions. These visions were subjective to the decisions that were made by those involved in the certain situation she saw at any given time. Changes in decision ultimately altered the outcome and as each decision was made the pieces would fit together allowing her to glimpse the possibilities. Their gifts earned them the title of know-it-all from their family as there were sometimes a bit smug about their abilities.

Edward was snapped back to the present as a loud thumping noise resonated through the confines of the walls of the house. Groaning to himself he closed his eyes sighed and moved his body until he had slumped off the window seat he was perched upon to the floor. "I love my family, I do . . . but I can't take this anymore. It is too hard . . . too much." The longer his existence dragged on the more despondent Edward became. Sometimes he felt like a burden to his family. He felt like he was on the outside looking in no matter how hard they tried to include him. He might have left and wandered on his own for a time if he did not know that doing so would break Esme's heart. He knew this in part because there was a time in the past when he did leave. A dark time for him that he did not want to think about. Time and time again he told himself that he was content to go through his existence without a mate and the companionship that came with it. As he slumped on the floor he knew that as timed moved this became less and less true. He did not know exactly what he was missing but he longed for it with everything he was.

The thoughts and accompanying sounds that Edward could hear with his hypersensitive hearing became too much to bear. The, what to him were blatant displays of what he sorely lacked, chaffed against his psyche and before he was even completely conscious of what he was doing, Edward was running. He ran to find the elusive sense of peace that eluded him despite his inhuman speed. He was running away from facing the reminders of what he may never have. He ran to escape.

Edward had no idea that running away from his life would bring him to the one thing that he desired most.

**********

Bella wanted so badly to look around her. She desperately wanted to know how she had ended up here. She had no idea where she was and no idea how to get back home. Even if here had been a clearly marked path she could not move to follow it. She tried to get up from her position on the forest floor. She was sprawled in an awkward position on the leaf and needle covered earth. Bella's arms and legs refused to cooperate and she began to panic.

_"Okay, I am going to get up now."_ She rallied her body from within her mind but it refused. _"How did I get here?"_ She wondered silently, eagerly trying to remember. No matter how hard she tried however, there was nothing but the darkness that had taken up residence in the parts of her mind she needed to access. So, Bella laid there completely still and numb in the body but frantic and scared in her mind.

As the forest dimmed Bella thought of the things that she could remember. She thought of sunshine and sea. Fishing boats and the smile of her father Charles. She thought of how she was continually begging him to take her out on his own boat where he would fish and she would lay out on the deck and watch the sun refracting off of the waves of the beautiful Caribbean Sea. She thought of her mother who always hid under hats and umbrellas complaining about the heat. Bella smiled inwardly as she thought of the copious amounts of sunscreen that Renee applied daily lamenting that the tropical sun was making her age prematurely. She thought about how far removed she was from the blazing comfort of that sun and she whimpered but refused to cry.

Bella's father Charles was a young man when he pounced on the opportunity to leave behind his life in the small Dutch village of his upbringing. After high school he had moved to Amsterdam to go to college and landed a job at a security firm. When the owners decided to expand their business and open a branch office in the Dutch owned Caribbean island of St. Maarten, they asked him to go along and supervise as he was a fluent English speaker. Charles readily complied. He fell in love with the island and the American Student he met there. Charles and Renee eventually got married and never left. This was the world into which Bella was born. She loved her parents and were extremely close to them. She did not have many friends due in part to her shyness and her feeling like she never quite fit in with the other students she went to school with. She was okay with this as she had her parents, her one friend Angela - whose parents were ex-patriots like hers - and her many possessions. Of all the gadgets, shoes and other material things she owned, her books were her most treasured. Bella would often sit on the balcony of her parents' condo overlooking the sea and read for hours.

Instead of bringing comfort these thoughts brought an immense sense of loss. _"Don't think that way,"_ she scolded herself. _"you will see them again."_ She held on to that thought because in that moment it was all she had.

***********

Edward flew by trees and brush with no more than a whisper to alert the forest to his presence. It was as if his feet never fully touched the earth. He left no footprints, no broken branches or twigs. Unnatural just as he always said. At some point the rain had ceased and he reveled in the sounds of the area. There were no minds filled with thoughts he did not want to hear, no reminders just rustling leaves and animals. As close to peace as he would ever get. As he ran he mused that his family probably would not even notice his absence for some time and decided to make the most of his time alone. He came to a stop and folded himself gracefully into a sitting position on a large out of place outcrop. Edward closed his eyes and started to imagine what it would be like to have a mate of his own. He imagined how he would spend his days in her presence learning from her, loving her. They would hunt together and make love under the stars, _"After we are married of course."_ He amended with a slight smile. There was a desire within him to exist solely for someone else. He felt that it would provide him with a sense of purpose to his time on this earth. He spent a vast amount of his existence running away, he wondered what it would be like to run to something.

Time passed and not once did he move one inch of his body as he became lost in his imaginings. He resembled a statue of a young beautiful god, an angel who had lost its wings. Edward was flawless in his beauty and not in the way that most people carelessly use the term. He was physically perfect in stature. His weight was perfectly distributed to his height. He had perfectly proportioned and toned arms and legs. Sculptured chest and long lean fingers. His eyes, his lips, nose and every facial feature were without fault. His hair was a strange beautiful bronze color and in ordered disarray that added to his godlike visage. 'Angel,' 'ethereal, 'god.' These were some of the words that he heard in the minds of many human females and even some vampire women. He was aware of his appearance as most vampires are exceptionally beautiful. However, he viewed his physical appearance as just another way in which he was unnatural. Another way in which he did not belong.

**********

Bella tried again to move her limbs without success. She wondered why she couldn't feel anything and thought maybe it was for the best this way. Regardless she tried to conjure up feeling in her fingers and toes. Bella had no idea how to conjure up feeling, feeling was one of those things that just was. She had tried to call for help but her voice was barely a whisper. She also had no sense of how long she had been laying here. It could have been minutes or hours. Concentrating on the last concrete memory she had she tried once more to retrieve her missing ones.

Bella had decided that it was time to meet and spend time with her paternal grandparents who still lived in the small town in Holland where her father grew up. They had always deemed St. Maarten too far a trek for their old bones but extended the invitation to her every summer. This year, being eighteen her parents thought she was ready to travel alone and she had been excited to see her father's home. She had been to Florida to visit Renee's parents a few times and she enjoyed it but was intrigued by the thought of going to Europe and finally getting the chance to travel alone made her feel grown up and responsible. The village that Charles had described to her numerous times sounded surreal to Bella and she was looking forward to experiencing it all.

Dropping her off at the island's international airport, her parents had hugged her tightly telling her over and over how much they loved her and would miss her. They reminded her no less than three times to be safe and have fun. They were proud that Bella had fully embraced this opportunity and they knew that their daughter was responsible and trustworthy.

The sights and sounds that assaulted Bella upon her arrival in Amsterdam overwhelmed her and she found herself a bit disoriented. She was intrigued by the harsh sounding Dutch that the people swarming around her spoke. She loved the language and was always trying to get her dad to translate random phrases she thought up. She only knew a little and could translate better than she could speak it. It was mandatory in the schools on St. Maarten but it had never come easily for her.

After eventually making it to the baggage claim area and retrieving her one suitcase she made her way to the area where people waited to greet and welcome loved ones or pick up business partners. Bella's grandparents had sent their much younger neighbor Claude to bring her to the village. Using a picture given to him to identify her he spotted Bella and begin to make his way towards her. Before he was able to get her attention he was momentarily distracted by the most beautiful women he had ever seen. She wanted to know his name.

Bella did not notice this, she was only made aware of his presence when he said,

"Hallo, ben ik Claude." He stated this with an air of confidence and what seemed like slight amusement to Bella. "Ik moet hier u aan Lage Vuursche drijven."

She dismissed her thoughts on his tone and deciphered that he was telling her his name and that he was to take her to the village. She returned his greeting and made to follow behind him as he took her suitcase. Bella felt a chill crawl down her spine and pulled the jacket she had worn to ward of the cold of the plane more tightly around her. The last thing she remembered was feeling surprise at the beautiful expensive car that Claude led her to.

Bella felt her mind growing weaker. She felt a a fog beginning to settle as she continued her internal battle to stay alert and retrieve the elusive memory of how she ended up here.

_"I will not give up yet. I don't want to die."_ No one could hear her thoughts. There was no one to keep her tethered to the present. _"I am alone."_ She silently acknowledged and with that thought, Bella slowly began to drift in and out of consciousness.

**********

"I am alone." Edward muttered to himself as he rose from his solitary perch. He went through the unnecessary motion of stretching his long limbs as he determined whether or not he was ready to return to the house. It was around twilight and the forest still seemed the more desirable option. The scents of the various animals that occupied the area did not faze or entice him in anyway as his thirst was quite satiated from the hunt that he, Emmett and Carlisle had ventured on the previous evening. As a result his eyes were a highly golden color, unlike his counterparts whose eyes were a startling red from the human blood they consumed.

Taking off in a random direction, he decided that he would explore. The leaves of the trees reflected shimmering rays of the dying daylight as the forest prepared for the darkness of night. He ran without purpose or intent taking in the beauty of his surroundings as he reviled in the last remnants of solace before returning to his family.

As he ran, he remained intently focused on the nature around him. He was halted however, by the scents that suddenly carried on the wind. They were different then those of the animals that inhabited the forest, they were the scents of others of his kind.

Turning in slow circles Edward sniffed the air. He was not aware that there were other vampires in the area as he and his family had not encountered even the scents of others since they had been there. However, he did notice that the trails were weak, indicating that they had come and gone some time ago. Nevertheless, he turned away from the direction that the trails traveled having no desire to come across anyone else.

He turned in the direction of home, moving deliberately through the foliage now a bit wary of his surroundings. As he walked a new scent began to filter towards him. A scent that was distinctly human. Despite his better judgment he was irresistibly pulled towards its source.

As he got closer he realized that there was a vampire's scent mingled with that of the human and it was different than the others. He was cautious though he was sure that he would not come upon whomever it belonged to. The scent was old and there was no active minds nearby. The potency of the human source was strong enough that he hew he was close. He thought again of the lack of outside thoughts and it puzzled him. He did not detect any signs of decay that would indicate death. He deduced then that the human was probably in a dreamless slumber or unconscious. The former was highly unlikely as the evidence of a run in with a vampire would mean danger and did not leave chance of peaceful slumber. The latter indicated that the human was injured and in need of assistance.

Edward did not often concern himself with the affairs of humans but he offered no resistance to the invisible line that tugged him forward. He quietly stepped around an area of low lying brush that had created a semi secluded alcove. There the source was revealed.

Bella saw the mirage of the most beautiful creature she had ever seen appear before her. His pale skin had an unearthly glow and his eyes, unusual and endless. Even in her weakened state she was struck by her heart's extreme reaction to this stranger. It was like she had been waiting just for him. She did not know him but he was to be her tether to this world. Somehow she felt that he was made for her and her for him. For the first time since she had awoken in the forest, Bella felt hope.

Before him she laid with her mahogany brown hair splayed around her head like a darkened halo. Gazing upon her, Edward was overcome with a fierce need. He felt a connection that was so strong it threatened to buckle him under its weight. Her scent was floral and heady like that of an impossibly strong perfume. It clouded his brain and awakened his heart. He loved her. His rational self said, impossible. He did not know this person but something stronger said she was his. She was his salvation. His destiny.

Like a buzzing in the background of his sudden revelation, his brain processed her position and injuries. She was wet from the earlier rain that had trickled through the foliage and no doubt suffering from exposure. She was lying in such an unnatural position for a perfectly natural girl. He knew instantly that her spine had been irrevocably damaged and she would not walk again.

She was clothed in a pale pink t-shirt and simple dark washed blue jeans. One of her pink ballet flats were missing and the other streaked with dirt from the forest floor. Her t-shirt was ridden partway up her stomach revealing the beginnings of suspicious bruising along her sides and navel. Edward wryly noted that these bruises indicated the beginnings of Cullen's and Grey Turner's signs. Drawing upon his two medical degrees that he had procured years ago he knew that this meant that she was bleeding internally and it appeared that she had been laying here for some time. There was anger as he thought of the vile entity that had left her here.

He knew somehow that one of his kind was responsible for her injuries. What its game was he did not know. All he knew was that her life was slipping away from her and that they may be back to finish her if she did not die on her own alone. He noted that the situation was so dire that her mind was completely silent even though her eyes appeared to be open and trying to take him in.

She could not be allowed to die, he could not lose her, not when he had just found her. He had the ability to fix her, to maker her better and he would. Edward's mind and emotions were in a tailspin. Rational thought left him as he thought of going through his existence without her now that he knew what that connection felt like. That instant and permanent need for her companionship, for her love consumed him. His newly awoken heart sputtered at the thought of leaving her here alone to die in this forest. He could not, he would not. He did not think beyond the present he just knew that he did not have a choice in the matter. He knew what he had to do. He had to possess her. He had to make her his. It was not time to think of consequences and repercussions. He did not allow his resolve to waver based on trivial matters.

Bella watched through blurry eyes as her angel lowered his head towards her neck. Edward held his breath and let his teeth slice into Bella's tender paling skin, tasting her luscious blood and infecting her with his venom. He had never attempted to change a human before and he warred with the monster doing all in his power to not bleed her dry. He needed her, he needed to make her better, he would not fail. He concentrated on her beauty and the connection he felt to her, allowing his blood lust to dissipate and be replaced by a determination to succeed.

To Bella it felt like a kiss and she smiled inwardly as warmth spread throughout her broken body. _"I knew it would be okay. My angel will make it better." _Bella thought triumphantly.

Edward glided his venom coated tongue over the incision his teeth had made, effectively healing the wound and sealing the venom inside. The healing properties in his venom would fix her spine and injuries making her whole again. "I will make it okay my love." The angel confirmed just as the warmth that Bella felt began to morph into something sinister. The sensation was shocking. She did not understand what was happening, why her angel would wish to cause her harm. In Bella's eyes her angel's features began to take on a more grotesque countenance. His too pale skin and unnatural golden eyes frightened her as an intense burning began to slither through her body. She was no longer numb. She was on fire.

As the burning escalated, Bella struggled through the pain to see his face. He hovered over her frail form looking anxiously at her. Edward was fearful as the realization of what he had done came crashing down on him with enough force that he almost lost his balance and had to steady himself so that he would not fall onto her. The taste of her blood lingered on his tongue but he was not tempted. He was frozen as he thought of this girl he did not know yet wanted and how he had taken it upon himself to make a decision for her without any regard or knowledge of her desires. Edward did not have Carlisle's excuse of fulfilling a promise. He had no excuses. He knew that in one rash decision he had damned this beautiful girl to an existence as a monster, damned her willingly to a fate that he would not wish on anyone.

Edward was pulled from his musings as he became aware that she was staring into his face as if she could see through him and he flinched and gripped fistfuls of his hair in his hands as he silently mourned the loss of her life, the pain and fear that was reflected in her eyes, and his part in it all.

_"Demon."_ Repeated itself over and over in Bella's mind as the fire tore a path of destruction through her. She closed her eyes tightly and wished with everything she had that the pain would stop. She wanted so badly to cry out but still she could not make a sound. She remained trapped inside herself alone with her fear and pain. Through her pain there came vague memories of a little church back home where Renee and Charles would take her as a little girl. One Sunday the minister spoke passionately about the fires of hell and of the bad people who were sent there to burn for eternity. She was so afraid after that sermon that her parents never made her go back there again.

In her current torment she knew now that the minister was right. It was the only explanation for the horror that she was experiencing. Who she at first thought was her angel had actually come to take her away for some unforgivable wrong she had committed. Through the pain and terror she wracked her brain for the one thing she could have possibly done to deserve this fate. Unsuccessful, her thoughts drifted back to him and how at first he had seemed like her saviour with his sudden appearance and beauty. He was not. To Bella nothing good could inflict such pain and torment. That only left her one option, _"Demon."_ Her mind began its cycle anew.

Edward slowly removed his hands from his hair. He could not remain with her in the forest any longer. The last of the light had left and she had been exposed to the elements long enough. He needed to make sure she was comfortable and taken care of. Edward gathered her frail body into his arms, cradling her like she was the most precious of treasure. The care and attention that he gave to her safety did not register to Bella. She was delirious with pain and unable to recognize the subtle message in his touch.

"I cannot dare to hope that in the end you will love me. I can only hope that you will not hate me for eternity." Edward spoke softly to her and kissed her brow. With that he began to run with her back to the house. She made no response to suggest that she had heard his words and felt his kiss but Bella did and it simultaneously confused and soothed her already addled brain.

As he headed back to his family, he could not help but think of the possibilities tied to the broken beauty that he held securely in his arms. Despite his earlier words to her, he thought of himself and this prepossessing woman laying together in his secret meadow back in Forks. He thought of them traveling the world together. He thought of happiness and love.

Edward forcefully pushed away the darkness that lingered on the edge of his desires. The alternatives terrified him and he refused to give them life. He chose to hope. He chose to believe.

**********

Alice gripped the railing of the hotel room's balcony tightly to steady herself. Instantly sensing a change in her demeanor, Jasper immediately rushed to his wife's side.

"Alice, what happened?" He urged, "What did you see?"

The shock that she felt along with the intensity of the vision rendered Alice almost speechless.

"Edward." Was all she managed before she was overtaken by more images.

Recovering she looked into the concerned eyes of her husband. "Jasper, we have to get back to Lage Vuursche right away. Something has happened."

"Do you know what it is?" He pressed, anxious.

"Edward, he has found her. He's found his mate." Alice answered in an almost reverent whisper. "We have to be there to help him."

Jasper was already gathering their belongings and throwing them back into their suitcases.

"Where, how?" He wondered aloud.

"In the forest and in a way that will haunt him for a long, long time." She looked to her husband and the apprehension was clear in her golden eyes. "Come Jasper we must go."

So they left to get back to their family and the brother who would need them as he had entered new uncharted territory. Alice knew that it would be a rocky road and there was uncertainty and doubt in her mind but she pushed them away choosing instead to hope. Choosing to believe.


End file.
